Heater



y 1952 s. A. WRIGHT ET AL 2,597,215

HEATER Filed y 3 0 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 88 Stephen A. Wright Lyle E. Bead/es (i INVENTORS /4 BY MM FM y 1952 s. A. WRIGHT ET AL HEATER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed July 5, 1950 Stephen A. Wright Lyle E Bead/es INVENTORS 21mm MM 8% Patented May 20, 1 952 HEATER Stephen A. Wright and Lyle E. Bcadles, Canton, Ill.

Application July 3, 1950, Serial No. 171,800

3 Claims.

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in electrical heaters, and more particularly pertains to a portable warm air heater.

Various important objects of this invention are to provide an electrical heater which may be conveniently and safely utilized to deliver a heated stream of air for heating and/or drying; which heater may be readily attached to or detached from a blower; and which heater is of simple and efficient construction.

An important feature of this invention resides in the provision of a casing having inner and outer walls, and thermal insulation disposed be-' tween the Walls, with a heating element control rheostat mounted in the wall of the, casing, with the rheostat communicating with the interior thereof, whereby the rheostat is cooled by the air stream passing through the casing.

Another important feature of this invention resides in the provision of a heater, in accordance With the foregoing feature, in which there is provided a pair of relatively perpendicular vanes in the casing, which vanes supportingly engage the interior wall of the casing, which vanes direct the air as it passes through the casing, and reduce the turbulence thereof.

Yet a further feature of this invention resides in the provision of a heater having relatively perpendicular vanes, in accordance with the foregoing features, in which the vanes are provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures, with a heating element disposed through the apertures, whereby the vanes support the coils of the heating element, in spaced relation to each other and to the casing.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features, are attained by this device, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the Warm air heater, shown attached to a tank type vacuum cleaner;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the warm air heater, having a hood attached to the blower end thereof, to be utilized for drying hair;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the warm air heater, having an apertured clothes drying bag attached to the blower end thereof;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the warm air heater;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view, taken substantially on the plane 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a schematic wiring diagram of the heating element, and the control therefor;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the warm air heater, shown being utilized to defrost the windshield of a vehicle; and

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of the warm air heater, in which a blower is shown attached directly to the heater casing.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be seen that there is provided a warm air heater, indicated generally by the numeral II), which includes a casin I2 having a nozzle I4 attached thereto, with a heating unit indicated generally by the numeral I6 disposed Within the casing.

The casing I2 includes an outer wall I8, an inner wall 20, with thermal insulation 22 disposed between said walls. It is intended that the inner wall 29, adjacent the forward end thereof, be provided with a peripheral rim 24 which extends outwardly therefrom, and which may be secured to the outer wall I8, in any desired manner.

The nozzle I4 includes a substantially frustoconical outer wall 26 and a similarly formed inner wall 28, and a sleeve 30 connecting the forward ends of the outer and inner walls 26 and 28, respectively. The inner wall 28 is also provided with an outwardly extending flange 32 which is adapted to abut the rim 24, the outer wall 26 of the nozzle I4 being provided with a peripheral recess 34 adjacent the juncture of the outer wall of the nozzle with the flange 32, which recess receives the forward projecting edge 36 of the outer wall I8 of the casing I2. Any suitable thermal insulation 38 is disposed between the outer and inner walls of the nozzle I4. The outer wall I8 of the casing I2 is provided with an inwardly extending flange 40 adjacent the other end thereof, which flange carries the externally threaded nipple 42, the inner wall 20 of the casing being provided with an outwardly extending rim 44 which abuts the flange 40, and seals the thermal insulation 22 against the entrance of moisture and other deleterious material.

As will be appreciated from a consideration of Figures 4 and 5, there are provided a pair of transversely extending vanes 46 and 48 which extend longitudinally of the casing I2, with the outer edges thereof abutting the inner wall 20 of the casing, to support the same, and to direct the flow of air therethrough. These vanes are provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures 50, with a substantially helical heating element 52 being disposed through the apertures, whereby the heating element is supported by the vanes 40 and 48, in spaced relation to each other, and to the inner wall 20 of the casing I2.

The casing I2 is provided with a transversely extending bore 54 adjacent the air inlet end thereof, which bore extends through the inner and outer walls of the casing, a sleeve 58 being disposed in the bore. A control rheostat 58 is disposed within the sleeve 56, the inner end of the rheostat communicating with the interior or" the casing I2, whereby the rheostat will be cooled by the stream of air passing through the casing, and an externally manipulable control knob 63 is provided for actuating the rheostat. Thus, the rheostat 58, which itself dissipates a certain amount of heat due to the flow of current therethrough, will not only assist in the heating of the stream of air passing through the casing, but will also be cooled thereby, to prevent overheating of the rheostat.

As shown schematically in Figure 5, the rheostat 58 is connected in series with the heating element 52, by means of conductors 62 and 6 8, the other end of the heating element being connected by means of a conductor 36 to a suitable source of power (not shown).

In order to facilitate the handling of the heater I0, there may be provided a handle 68 which is secured, as by fasteners to the er:- terior wall I8 of the casing l2.

As shown in Figures 1 through '7, there may be provided an adapter collar 12, which has an inn I II ternally threaded enlarged portion which is adapted to be screw threadedly received on the externally threaded nipple 42, and a neck portion 15,, of reduced diameter, which has a sleeve 78 secured thereto, or formed integrally therewith, which sleeve is adapted to receive the end of a flexible tube 89 such as is commonly provided with the tank type vacuum cleaner $2. In this manner, the conventional vacuum cleaner may be utilized to supply a stream of air to the heater I8, without requiring an alteration in the construction or operation or" the vacuum cleaner 82.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 8 oi the drawings, there is provided a separate blower unit 83, which includes a motor (not shown) and a fan 84, which is housed within asuitable casing 86, and which casing may be provided with an in ternally threaded neck portion 83, which is adapted to be screw threadedly received upon the externally threaded nipple 42, whereby the blower unit 83 may be detachably coupled to the heater I0. There may be additionally provided a pair of supporting legs 93 and 92, which may be respectively mounted upon the blower unit 83, and the heater 10.

In order to utilize the heater I8 to dry hair, and the like, there may be provided adomeshaped cap 94, which is adapted to be fitted over the head of the user, in spaced relation thereto, which cap is adapted to be attached to the discharge end of the casing. For this purpose the cap 94 may be provided with an upwardly and outwardly extending rim 96 adjacent the upper end thereof, and which rim is preferably formed of a resilient material, together with the integral finger portions 98 attached to the upper end of the rim 36, whereby the cap and rim are detachably secured to the heater I0. A suitable screen I00 may be secured within'the cap 94, so as to diiiuse the stream of air passing from the nozzle [4 of the heater I0.

As shown in Figure 3, the heater [0 may be utilized to dry clothes and the like, and for this purpose there may be provided a hanger support bar I02, which has a plurality of hanger receiving apertures I04 therein, and which hanger support bar has a hook I08 attached thereto, for mounting the same. A bag forming member I08, of a preferably pliable material, is secured to the support bar I02 in such a manner as to provide a balloon-like structure, when inflated, and which bag forming member may be provided with a plurality of exhaust apertures I I0 adjacent the upper end thereof. The lower end II2, of the bag forming member I08, is secured to the discharge end of the heater I0, by means of a de tachable collar I I4, and in this manner air which is exhausted from the heater I0 will pass through the bag I08, thereby inflating the same, so that clothes or garments I I6 positioned within the bag will be heated, the moisture laden air then being exhausted through the apertures I I0.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the operation and construction of the device will be readily understood, and further discussion is therefore believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to that shown and described, but all suitable modications may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

7 l. A portable heater unit for multiple domestic use adapted for connection with an external source producing a directed air flow comprising an elongated cylindrical double walled tube having an inner wall which is insulated from the outer wall, said double wall tube being provided with means for attaching a nozzle at one end and with further means for attaching a nipple at the other end, said nipple being fixedly connected with the said tube and provided with means for receiving the directed air flow from the external source, a transverse opening near the end to which said nipple is attached, an adjustable rheostat exposed to the air flow and said transverse opening provided with an adjusting knob projecting to the outside, insulating longitudinal vanes within the entire length of the cylindrical tube arranged at right angles to each other and fitting into the cylindrical tube, spaced apertures within each of said vanes, a helically wound spiral of resistance wire passing through the said apertures and held by them, said resistance wire spiral being in series with the rheostat, and means for connectingsaid rheostat and said heating spiral with a source of electric power.

2. A portable air jet heater for multiple domestic use, heating an air jet, produced by an external air jet producing blower, to a desired temperature without reducing the speed of the air jet, comprising an elongated cylindrical double walled tube, with an inner wall surrounding the space through which the air jet travels completely insulated by a surrounding annular insulation and an outer wall surrounding said insulation and said tube, said double walled tube being provided with means for attaching a nozzle at one end and for attaching a nipple at the other end, said nipple being provided with means for attaching it to the blower tube of the external nipple, an adjustable rheostat within the transverse opening, the rheostat being connected in series with the helical heater element to adjust the heat produced in the said helical element in accordance with the air velocity and with the desired temperature of the air jet.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said 6 rheostat is positioned adjacent the air inlet side of said casing.

STEPHEN A. WRIGHT. LYLE E. BEADLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,041,322 Mies Oct. 15, 1912 1,564,896 Rinker et al Dec. 8, 1925 1,723,405 Carmean Aug. 6, 1929 1,829,765 Spalding Nov. 3, 1931 1,993,244 Martin Mar. 5, 1935 

